Interim govt: Giving in to pressure and a glut of disinformation

After the autocratic rule came to an end by means of the mass upsurge triggered by the Students against Discrimination movement, chief advisor of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus has spoken of building an inclusive and non-discriminatory new Bangladesh. He says that this new Bangladesh is the dream and aspiration of the students and youth. But as the actual form of this new Bangladesh, and how it would be materialised, hadn't been determined in advance, questions are popping up concerning reforms in various areas, and even starting anew in certain cases. But it must be kept it mind that people lose their patience very soon if they have to wait long for the good days to appear. So any indication of hesitation or dilemma within the government is totally unwarranted.

While there is more or less a consensus on the need for several important reforms before the election, differences have emerged over reform-related procedural matters. A glaring example of this is the dissolution of the coordination committee formed to review and revise the textbooks. There are all indications of political pressure behind the delay in forming the reform commissions too. The talks with the political parties are basically not concerning reforms, but apparently to take their views concerning the commission members and terms of reference.

The committee to review and revise textbooks had begun work, but the government dissolved it after they dropped two members dubbed as being anti-Islamic and also after a demand arose for alems to be included in the committee. The effort to have influence of Islamic quarters in drawing up the academic curriculum and syllabus is nothing new. In fact, Awami League created quite a shocking record in compromising in face of pressure from these quarters.

We may recall how the writings of non-Muslims were dropped from the mainstream textbooks, how so-called un-Islamic philosophy and culture was avoided. Sheikh Hasina's election politics also had a long-standing contribution to the spread of madrasa education. Even though the government was allowed no role in the qawmi curriculum, their certificates were granted recognition as full-fledged university Bachelors and Masters degrees. In gratitude, two days before the 'night-before' election of 2018, Sheikh Hasina was bestowed with the title 'Qawmi Janani' (Qawmi Mother) at the conference of the madrasa teachers.

No matter for what reason the government took this decision, the general view is that they are bowing under pressure of the pro-Islamic groups. A local argument has arisen about the government acquiescing to baseless allegations of religious hatred against two eminent persons for their diverse views. In this backdrop, it is not natural for eyebrows to be raised at the delay in government orders regarding the pre-announced reform commissions.

An unwarranted debate over taking credit for the movement that ended the autocratic rule, is yet another instance of instigating a divide in the aspirations to build a new Bangladesh. The joint leadership of students at the centre of the movement all unhesitatingly acknowledge that this movement would never have met with success without the involvement of people from all walks of life. One of the main organisers of the movement, Mahfuz Alam, told Prothom Alo that from 1 to 15 July they really didn't get tangible political or intellectual support. He said they had been thinking about how to take this movement to 2026 and make it into a student-peoples movement.

It was the participations of the public in the Bangla blockade programme that made them realise that the movement was resonating with the general people. It was then that people of all classes and professions actively joined in the movement. Mahfuz Alam acknowledged the movement of 2018. He acknowledged the history of the enduring struggles and repression of the political parties over the past 15 years. Despite not meeting with success, it was because the political movements persisted in face of all sorts of repression and oppression that a fertile field was created for the anti-autocracy uprising.

Certain persons have alleged that leaders of Jamaat-affiliated Chhatra Shibir leaders had concealed their identities and were with Chhatra League. Later they took up leadership roles in the anti-discrimination student's movement. Are these allegations motivated too? Can it be said with conviction that this is not a part of a design to divert attention away from the reforms pertaining to politics and various institutions of the state? For long Awami League leaders had been saying that Jamaat and Shibir activists had infiltrated their ranks, but no one believed them. Awami League would concoct such excuses in order to shirk responsibility of the misdeeds of their leaders and activists.

After the fall and fleeing of autocrat Sheikh Hasina, when there were instances of the minority community being attacked in various places, whether for their involvement with Awami League, personal vendetta or religious hatred, the political parties speedily took a stand against this. Even so, certain communal groups have been carried out crimes such as spreading religious hatred and attacking mazars (shrines). These groups carry out their misdeeds, taking advantage of the fact that the police and law enforcement agencies have lost their confidence and their work has slumped, having been accessories of the autocrat regimes criminal activities.

It is more or less common knowledge that our large neighbour India was shocked and taken aback by the falling of the autocratic regime in face of the mass uprising. Just as this is true of the Indian government, it is equally true of most of the politicians and intellectuals there too. They would consider Sheikh Hasina as the sole bastion of non-communal politics in Bangladesh. They now view the changing of power in Bangladesh as nothing but the rise of pro-Islamic forces.

Their misconception is not limited to their borders, but their media is spewing out a continuous stream of disinformation and propaganda. This propaganda reached up to as far as New York last week. They are spending money on an electronic billboard in Times Square to display their misinformation. But it must also be acknowledged that the investigations carried out by BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Voice of America and other international media have exposed such misinformation and extreme exaggerations, which has been of significant assistance to the government.
While the government and the political parties have pledged to investigate the incidents of assault upon the minorities, the smear campaign against the interim government has not stopped. It may be recalled that Awami League does not have a clean record at all regarding attacks on the minorities over the past 15 years of their rule.

The Hindu Christian Boudhha Oikya Parishad back then had complained that the incidents of repression against them had reached a new height and those under Awami League patronage were responsible for this. Due to the political patronage accorded to the criminals, investigations and trials regarding those attacks never proceeded. But even then the rights and security of the minorities were used for political purposes and Awami League blamed their political opponents for all this.

The question is, how can all this misleading propaganda be tackled? It is imperative to discard any measures that can lead to such misconceptions. The government needs to earn the confidence of the people by being firm in its decisions, not giving in to any group whether Islamic or otherwise. At the same time it is essential to accelerate the investigation and trial of all crimes of communal hatred.

* Kamal Ahmed is a senior journalist
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir